Glory Days Does every big city in North America deserve its own professional hockey team In the 1960s and 1970s people sure seemed to think that way The NHL expanded from six teams to 18 A new league called the World Hockey Association WHA also started adding 12 more teams to the sport One of the new NHL clubs arrived in Kansas City Missouri in 1974 After considering several names the owners settled on Scouts after a famous statue in Kansas City The Scouts would one day become the New Jersey Devils Before moving east however the team actually headed west first After two seasons a mere 27 victories and a lot of empty seats the owners of the Scouts sold the club to a new group of owners in Denver Colorado It was the first time in more than 40 years that an NHL team switched cities The team was renamed the Rockies for the 1976 77 season The club tried to draw fans with the promise of rough play Many of 6
Colorado’s best players including Wilf Paiement Barry Beck Lanny McDonald and Chico Resch were physical and fearless leaders Unfortunately the team had trouble finding a winning formula and the losing continued The Rockies played for six seasons in Colorado without a winning record In 1982 a businessman named John McMullen bought the Rockies and moved the team to his home state of New Jersey The club was renamed the Devils New Jersey rebuilt around hardworking young players including Kirk Muller John MacLean Pat Verbeek Brendan Shanahan Bruce Driver and Sean Burke In 1987 88 the Devils made the playoffs for the first time and then nearly reached the Stanley Cup Finals This unexpected success helped the team win over New Jersey sports fans It also sparked a hockey craze among boys and girls across the state Once-empty ice rinks were soon busy from morning to night Over the next 15 seasons the Devils won the Stanley Cup three times They were champions of the NHL in 1995 2000 and 2003 The key to their success was a defensive style that slowed down LEFT Barry Beck starred for the team during its days in Colorado ABOVE Kirk Muller helped hockey gain popularity in New Jersey 7
opponents at center ice before they could organize their offensive attack The Devils would wait patiently for the other team to become frustrated and make a mistake Then they would steal the puck and score Because New Jersey concentrated on defense many of the team’s victories came in very close games Often the difference was goaltending This was where the Devils were strongest Goalie Martin Brodeur was between the pipes for all three Stanley Cup championships The bigger the game the better Brodeur played But he did more than make great saves Often he also triggered the offense by skating out of his net and sending the puck to his teammates Brodeur was so good at this that the NHL actually made a new rule to limit how far from the crease that goalies could handle the puck New Jersey did not stock its roster with superstars Instead the Devils found smart unselfish skaters who understood the importance of playing as a team The club’s scoring leaders included forwards Claude Lemieux Patrik Elias Bobby Holik Jason Arnott Petr Sykora Sergei Brylin Jamie Langenbrunner Jay Pandolfo and Scott Gomez The defense was led by Scott Stevens LEFT Martin Brodeur’s great goaltending gave the Devils a huge advantage over opponents ABOVE Scott Stevens lifts the Stanley Cup on the cover of the 1995 96 NHL Guide 9
